Operation Burnham

24 comments on “Operation Burnham ”

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1. In Vino 1

   30 March 2018 at 6:34 pm

   I agree it’s a great article. I also find it a little depressing. We have a chorus at present telling us what egregious liars the wicked Russians are (their autocratic regimes always have been, but apparently we must all be shocked as if it were a total novelty) and yet.. here we have a case where all our ‘open accountability’ may well turn out to be a smokescreen that gets swept under a carpet. How much better are we?
   (Yes,I do like mixing metaphors.)
   • One Anonymous Bloke 1.1

     30 March 2018 at 7:53 pm

     The Kremlin’s perfidy does indeed appear to be news to some. Francesca and Mikesh, for example. Of course, the Kremlin would simply have Nicky Hager and Jon Stevenson accidentally killed during a totally coincidental mugging.
     • In Vino 1.1.1

       30 March 2018 at 10:27 pm

       Whereas John Key neutralises them by calling them unreliable (+ other stuff), the media comply, and the majority care more about cricket balls. A struggling individual can have more freedom of thought here if he is quiet about it, but overall I don’t see us as very far ahead. Just more deviously corrupt.
   • tracey 1.2

     31 March 2018 at 3:23 pm

     As someone replied to me the other day

     “We have outsourced outrage to the media”

     The media decide what annoys us.

     Labour or NZF or Greens ( but they get shouted down as looney conspiracists) should be turning the attention from Russia to this, to Finlayson. Turn it on the media. When they want to say more about Russia, ask the journo who asks the question why they areng asking finlayson about his appalling breach of the law or asking Bridges about the lying of the Defence Commander when he was in cabinet.

     Change. The. Narrative.
2. Anne 2

   30 March 2018 at 6:46 pm

   I suspect I might be guilty of mixing my metaphors but since I’ve never managed to fully understand what a mixed metaphor is… perhaps you could explain it to me In Vino. 🙂

   Haven’t had a chance to read Campbell’s article yet but, having taken a very close interest in the subject and read the all important book by Hager and Stephenson, I will be watching and listening very carefully. If the prospective inquiry turns about to be a government whitewash, then my faith in Labour could take a permanent dive – as in resigning my decades long membership of the party.
   • Carolyn_Nth 2.1

     30 March 2018 at 6:50 pm

     Try sweeping a smokescreen under a carpet – and that’s the mixed metaphor.
     • In Vino 2.1.1

       30 March 2018 at 10:33 pm

       Yes… or ‘He slipped on the banana skin, put his foot in his mouth, and landed flat on his face.’ That is 3 mixed at once.
       • Anne 2.1.1.1

         30 March 2018 at 10:53 pm

         Getting the hang of it. Thanks both of you. 🙂
         • xanthe 2.1.1.1.1

           31 March 2018 at 7:56 am

           Carolyn_Nth gave a very good example of a mixed metaphor.
           In Vino I dont actually think thats a mixed metephor at all, just a series of conjoined metaphor…. IMHO

           BTW, what then is the collective noun for metaphore
           • In Vino 2.1.1.1.1.1

             31 March 2018 at 5:56 pm

             Metaplethoraphor
             • xanthe …

               1 April 2018 at 8:28 pm

               National must not count their chickens before they come home to roost !
   • tracey 2.2

     31 March 2018 at 3:24 pm

     The review looks like it will be very narrow.
3. adam 3

   30 March 2018 at 7:13 pm

   Under the name of national security, our state can kill all the civilians it wants. In the name of revenge, it can even cover it up.

   The more things change, the more they stay the same. Just to remind people, that in 1916 the state, to stop a Christian leader opposing young men going to war, invaded his land, killed his son, then sent him to prison.

   Gotta love the monopoly on violence that the state holds.
   • patricia bremner 3.1

     30 March 2018 at 9:04 pm

     They let the British shoot our shell shocked men as well, in World War 1.
   • gsays 3.2

     31 March 2018 at 9:31 am

     Hi Adam, in regards to the monopoly the state has it isn’t restricted to violence.
     Thompson and Clark are not allowed to snoop around us but the police are free to pry and be duplicitous amongst the public.
     • tracey 3.2.1

       31 March 2018 at 3:25 pm

       But they were allowed. And Key allowed illegal search of Dotcom, and the police illegal raid of Hager, and tge blocking of evidence for someone on tril and and and… there is a pattern
4. Whispering Kate 4

   30 March 2018 at 8:24 pm

   The terms of reference will be more of the same old same old. Like Anne above my confidence is not good. Fudging is the name of the game – and bear this in mind every inquiry that the Government holds is just costing more valuable tax payers hard earned wages. History doesn’t bode well for this inquiry.
5. francesca 5

   31 March 2018 at 8:43 am

   If the Inquiry turns out to be a patsy, does Deborah Manning still have the option of taking the case to the Hague?
   Anyone know?
   The book Hit and Run really clinched for me that the military has far too much autonomy and has developed a “culture” that is far from most New Zealander’s norms
   Shared operations with US troops has that American military culture spill over, with all its impunity and excessive love of might
   I’d love to see our foreign policy reviewed and the prospects of a more neutral or at least non aligned stance explored.
   Hanging on to the coat tails of an imploding empire doesn’t seem like a good idea to me.
   And surely we should be looking in to our participation in the use of white phosphorous in Mosul last year?
   • reason 5.1

     31 March 2018 at 9:33 am

     So many war crimes for so long in the middle east …. Does Falluja even exist any more in Iraq ? …. they took and lost it at least three times, … in just one of the re-takings allegedly 70 % of the buildings were damaged … many flattened…. Phosphorous and depleted uranium used in a civilian habitat…. 5 or 6 million refugees from Iraq

     Or the militant Zionists in Israel against the people of Palestine …100 tonnes of high explosive exploded in one day their corralled Gaza ghetto refugees … starting at a time of maximum children in the open
     approx 42 minute mark
     
     • reason 5.1.1

       31 March 2018 at 9:39 am

       ..100 tonnes of high explosive exploded in one day Against their corralled Gaza ghetto refugees.
6. gsays 6

   31 March 2018 at 9:44 am

   Thanks Tracey for bringing my attention to this article.
   This issue really riles me for two reasons.
   First if all, the injustice of the civilians killed.
   The ensuing cover-up, lies and obfuscation from the prime minister, defence minister and chief of defence staff is arrogant and insulting.

   Hager, Stephenson and Manning show courage and integrity, values that used to be paramount in our defence force.
   • tracey 6.1

     31 March 2018 at 3:27 pm

     Agree. Cover ups are supposed to be what damages but the Nats covered lots and when they have been uncovered, no damage. Key got fawning coverage for 2 days of golf as though he hadnt presided over all of the transgressions referred to above.
7. patricia bremner 7

   31 March 2018 at 10:58 am

   Hager Stephenson and Manning may be further vindicated by the Inquiry, and to quote another, the rest was “A litany of lies” paraphrased to “A litany of Liars” would be a suitable epitaph for Key and C/O.
   • tracey 7.1

     31 March 2018 at 3:28 pm

     Yes. The name of the village, if not tge position was always correct. The NZDF commander lied. And he was happy for Stephenson and Hager to be villified as conspiracy tgeorists. As looney socialists.

     He needs to be gone, along with his pension and any perks. Courts martial and dishonourable discharge, not a contrived resignation and an insincere mea culpa

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